Media centre

Tuesday 5 Jan 2021

Multimillion-pound engineering works over the holiday period to benefit passengers in south London and Sussex

Region & Route:

Southern: Sussex

| Southern

Network Rail engineers worked around the clock over Christmas and New Year to deliver vital rail upgrades across Sussex and south London.

Engineers worked on the Brighton Main Line to improve the reliability of the vitally important stretch of railway between Croydon and Three Bridges. A set of points, which allow trains to cross from one track to another, were refurbished at Three Bridges on Christmas Day while two sets of points were refurbished at East Croydon and two at Norwood Junction.

Delays in this key critical section have a major knock on impact on performance across the network. The work completed over Christmas will make the railway more reliable and support the industry’s joint efforts to make our key routes free of delay causing incidents.

Shaun King, route director, Sussex said:

“I’d like to thank everyone who has worked over the Christmas period, whether out on track, in offices or at home. 

“Work to upgrade Gatwick Airport station continued its excellent progress, we installed a new bridge at Selsdon Road, completed vital maintenance and improvements in our golden corridors and responded to a landslip near Ockley, stabilising and protecting 30 metres of embankment to get the railway open again for key passengers.  

“This vital work will help us build back better and more reliable than ever before for our passengers.”

Gatwick Airport station

Work on the station upgrade is continuing on schedule thanks to a major effort over the Christmas period as part of a joint project with Gatwick Airport Ltd, GTR, Coast to Capital LEP and the Department of Transport.

• Over Christmas the final span of the site access bridge across platforms 3 to 7 was lifted in, which will allow work to continue throughout 2021
• Strengthening works and piling continued to prepare island platforms 3 & 4 for the arrival of a new escalator and stairs to improve accessibility around the station
• Piling – foundation work - started on the island platforms 5 & 6, which will be widened and new escalators and stairs installed connecting to a brand new station concourse above
• Enabling and drainage works for a new Back of House building for Gatwick Airport employees, which is due to open in 2022

Selsdon Road bridge

Network Rail also replaced two bridge decks over four lines at Selsdon Road bridge near Croydon. Works included the installation of new ballast, sleepers and running rails.

The railway in Sussex is made up of hundreds of overbridges, underbridges, footbridges and tunnels and we’re investing £112 million to replace or refurbish several structures on the route.

Angie Doll, Managing Director for Southern and Gatwick Express, said:

“We welcome Network Rail’s major investments to improve our passengers’ travel experiences, and we’re grateful for their careful planning and hard work to minimise disruption to services. These vital improvements will be complemented by our own network wide, multimillion-pound programme, bringing new and better facilities to every one of our stations as customers return to the railway this year.

“When you travel with us, you can be assured that we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure your trains and stations are clean and safe. Please remember the golden rules – hands, face, space: wash your hands before and after your journey, wear a face covering and keep your distance from others.”